Sandwiched between the comeback Long Distance Voyager <\/i>and The Other Side Of Life <\/i>is this somewhat forgotten Moody Blues effort, which is a shame, because it is at least an equal to its predecessor. In fact, it is the last Moodies effort to feature an emphasis on guitars, contributions from Ray Thomas and a spark of humanity; unfortunately, all three of these would be wiped out on the band\u2019s next three albums.<\/p>\n
The Present <\/i>is similar to the pattern set by Voyager<\/i> in that it starts with the hit single, trades off Justin Hayward ballads with more up-tempo, semi-cheesy pop\/rock numbers, and ends with two Thomas songs that sound fairly out of place. Thankfully, keyboardist Patrick Moraz is still restrained here, limiting his contributions to fill-ins and rarely dominating the songs.<\/p>\n
This results in an album of 10 songs focusing on standard Moodies fare \u2013 love, whether romantic or bittersweet \u2013 and some pop philosophy, which has been the band\u2019s stock in trade since 1968. Those who know the band from \u201cNights In White Satin\u201d and the psychedelic, Mellotron-heavy music of that period will find something here to like, while those who came on board in 1981 with \u201cThe Voice\u201d will be rewarded as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlue World\u201d is an odd choice for leadoff song and single. Breaking with tradition, it is a fairly downbeat pop song, both lyrically and musically, although Hayward\u2019s voice perfectly conveys the pessimism of the piece. Only the dated keyboard squiggles between the verses detract, but they aren\u2019t a deal-breaker, and this remains one of the band\u2019s best songs of the \u201880s.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeet Me Halfway\u201d takes a couple of listens to sink in, but it also has a dark undercurrent and some good singing by Hayward, sounding a bit like the yang to yin of \u201cThe Voice.\u201d Toward the end of the album, Hayward gets another two-fer with \u201cIt\u2019s Cold Outside Of Your Heart\u201d and \u201cRunning Water,\u201d which are both fairly dull, although the latter is mostly a cappella with minimal instrumentation, a rarity for this band.<\/p>\n
The other single, \u201cSitting At The Wheel,\u201d is a ripoff of both Jackson Browne\u2019s \u201cRunning On Empty\u201d and any ELO song you care to name. John Lodge shouting \u201cRock and Roll!\u201d in the chorus of a song that is so far away from rock is unintentionally hilarious. His \u201cUnder My Feet\u201d isn\u2019t much better, although points are added for the war-drum chant and guitar work of \u201cHole In The World,\u201d which proved the Moodies hadn\u2019t yet lost the desire to take chances.<\/p>\n
Thomas, the band\u2019s flautist and third singer, adds harmony to the otherwise moribund \u201cGoing Nowhere,\u201d written by drummer Graeme Edge. The harmonies always have been this band\u2019s strength, but they too would be phased out on ensuing albums, making this one of the last places to hear them. <\/p>\n
Thomas also contributes the strange New Age-ish \u201cI Am\u201d and the yearning, faux-majestic, Celtic-flute-infested \u201cSorry,\u201d which is a bit all over the map sonically but still interesting. Of note is the line \u201cI\u2019m not willing to trade \/ My life to make the sale,\u201d which fits the song\u2019s context as a breakup piece but also could double as Thomas\u2019 distaste at the way the band\u2019s sound was heading. Perhaps he could read the writing on the wall, because he would be ignored up until 1991\u2019s Keys Of The Kingdom<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The majority of the pieces on The Present <\/i>are more soul-searching and introspective than most of the band\u2019s work from the \u201880s. In this sense, it recalls the \u201cClassic 7\u201d albums from the previous decade. Granted, half the songs are underwritten and pedestrian, but the disc still shows a creative spark; since things would go downhill fast from here, this remains the last reasonably interesting disc the Moody Blues ever made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":31326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6703],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-43024","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-moody-blues","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43024"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43024"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}